506 PS 5: Shattering myths through metrics: data-driven approaches to enabling migration health inclusion and health diplomacy in a polarized and multipolar world

Abstract PS 5: Inclusivity and Diversity - Magda Robalo Correia e Silva and Kolitha Wickramage, Auditorium A & B (Rectory), September 5, 2025, 14:00 - 15:00 Migration remains a key driver of economic growth and poverty reduction for many LMICs. Despite rising anti-migrant sentiment, regular migration pathways are essential for countries with aging populations, declining fertility, and labor shortages in sectors such as healthcare, construction, and caregiving, which are roles not easily replaced by AI. However, migration health data, crucial for effective public health interventions, financing, and resource allocation, is severely lacking in health systems worldwide. The ability to deliver targeted interventions, enable global health security, and counter misinformation, especially for precarious or irregular migrant workers, depends on the availability of such data. Recent bibliometric analyses and systematic reviews reveal significant evidence gaps in international labour migration and health. Although labour migrants comprise two-thirds of all international migrants, their health data is largely missing from routine health and migration management systems, with even less research available than for displaced or irregular migrants. Urgent technical cooperation is needed to help countries integrate migration modules with strong data protection into health and administrative systems. Investing in privacy-preserving data linkage to make better use of existing data can be a cost-effective way to connect health and social data for migrants. Additional evidence gaps that present opportunities include data from millions of mandatory health assessments undertaken daily for work, study, or residence, as well as employment insurance and occupational health data for migrant workers. Governments, academia, and the UN should partner with employers and industry groups, especially in precarious sectors, as the workplace remains an underutilized avenue for improving migrant health. Engaging migrant diasporas to strengthen health systems and promote inclusion is another blind spot. While remittances to LMICs now exceed foreign direct investment and aid, they also transfer skills, social capital, and networks that support integration and community inclusion. Advancing technical cooperation is challenged by the evisceration of UN and related agency programs, with global health financing reaching its lowest level in a decade. Key elements for a playbook are outlined to advance migration health data and inclusion, drawing on lessons from regions such as AU, SADC, and ASEAN, and countries including Morocco, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.